Save Energy, Lower Usage Through Holiday Efficiency Tips

Vectren Energy Delivery (Vectren) is reminding its customers about ways to lower energy usage and have a safe holiday season.

“The holidays typically bring an increase in energy consumption, whether it’s decorating your home with festive lights, hosting a houseful of guests or cooking up a feast for the family,” said Brad Ellsworth, president of Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana-South. “However, there are a number of simple ways to use energy wisely and safely over the next several weeks.”

Vectren suggests customers switch the lights on their holiday displays from standard incandescent or compact fluorescent (CFL) to Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. LED lights are shatterproof, shock resistant and safe to touch. In addition, LEDs use 75 percent less energy than the typical incandescent lights used. Vectren also recommends the following tips to help consumers enjoy the holiday safely while using energy wisely:

Let the holidays serve as reminder to get an annual furnace inspection.

• Open doors or open a window while using an open-hearth fireplace to reduce the amount of heated interior air drawn into the fireplace
• Use a timer for your holiday lights. This allows for lights to be illuminated only when necessary.
• Don’t overload your electrical circuits.
• Never run appliance cords or extension cords under carpet. They are designed to be kept cool by movement of room air around the cord.
• Connect lights to power strips that have several outlets and built-in circuit breakers.
• Make sure lights and extensions cords used for outdoor decoration are approved for outdoor use.
• Turn the thermostat down – to 68 degrees – when you have guests. Extra bodies in the house mean extra warmth at no cost to you.
• Use fiber optic decorations. Fiber optic trees and decorations are the ultimate in energy efficiency. In most cases, they use a single light bulb located in the base of the unit to light the entire decoration.
• When cooking for the holidays, don’t forget to use your microwave oven. Fast and efficient microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens.
• Don’t open the oven door to take a peek at what’s cooking inside. Instead, turn on the oven light and check the cooking status through the oven window. Opening the oven door lowers the temperature inside – by as much as 25 degrees – which increases cooking time and wastes energy.

For more holiday energy savings and safety tips, visit www.vectren.com or call 1-800-227-1376.